The present invention relates to a bed apparatus suitable for long term patients and aged persons who are handicapped in moving their bodies without help, for a long time.
Bed apparatuses for hospitals are used when people such as aged persons, patients and the like that cannot freely move their bodies without help enter, for example, old people's homes, hospitals and the like. There are various types of such bed apparatuses, and a "getup-type" bed apparatus is known as one of them.
The "getup-type" bed apparatus comprises a conventional bed frame, and a floor plate divided into a plurality of floor portions provided on the bed frame. One of the plural floor portions is fixed to the frame, and the floor portion corresponding to the upper body of the user is driven to be moved up and down by a drive mechanism.
Therefore, the user who cannot lift his upper body without help can do so by moving up the floor portion by the drive mechanism, and this is convenient for eating, reading, and the like.
Incidentally, the user lying on the bed apparatus periodically receives various consultation and nursing treatments (i.e., such as for excretion). When the user is handicapped in moving his body without help at the time of such a consultation or nursing, a consultant or a nursing worker (hereinafter called a worker) must lift up a part of the user's body and make the user turn over his body.
When the worker makes performs tasks such as lifting up a part of the user's body and making the user turn over his body, the worker ideally would like to put his body as close as possible to the user.
If the worker performs such tasks while keeping his body remote from the user, for example, the worker can hardly concentrate his strength. Therefore, the worker cannot easily execute his tasks, a large burden is loaded on the worker's lower back, and the worker may suffer from lower-back pain.
For this reason, when the worker nurses the user, it is preferable that the worker puts his body as close as possible to the user to execute his tasks. However, the floor plate of the bed apparatus has a predetermined width. Thus, when the user lies on his back at a center portion or an end portion in the lateral direction of the bed plate, the worker must often execute his tasks while he is unable to put his body close to the user from the opposite end in the lateral direction of the bed plate. For this reason, the worker cannot easily execute his tasks and/or may suffer from lower-back pain.